Glass Corridors Spring 2015
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GLASS CORRIDORS Who’s Running In 2016? By Mae O’Neill By the time the 2016 presidential election rolls around, those now in their junior or senior year will be able to vote. The 2016 United States elections will be held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016, and some politicians have already announced their candidacy. Whether or not you already have a stance on some of the issues facing the country, or consider yourself a member of a political party, voting is an important right of passage. Although the campaigns have not yet gotten into full swing, knowing who is potentially running and their values will help us to cast our vote when the time comes. Whatever decision you make should be based more on than general or false information or party assumptions. Some of these people are currently only prospective candi- dates. The Democrats Hillary Clinton: Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton officially announced that she was running for president in 2016 on April 12, ending two years of speculation about whether or not she would run. This will be her second attempt to run for the presidency; she lost in the primaries to Obama in 2008. Clinton has built the largest campaign operation of any potential candidate so far. Clinton is a feminist and is against the government inter- fering with the reproductive rights of women and the availability of birth control. She supports the death penalty; she believes that the greenhouses gases being released into the atmosphere cause global warming and she supports energy conservation and same- sex marriage. She believes the solution to the illegal immigration problem is to make “a path to earned citizenship for those who are here, working hard, paying taxes, respecting the law, and willing to meet a high bar for becoming a citizen.” In 2002, Clinton voted in favor of the McCain-Feingold Act, which imposed regulations on how much can be donated to political campaigns. Clinton believes that our health care system needs to be improved incrementally, instead of the wide-ranging plans that have been introduced in the past. She is the only Democrat to officially announce her campaign. Others to watch: Bernie Sanders: Sanders announced his run for the 2016 Democratic Party presidential nomination on April 30. He said he was motivated by “obscene levels” of income inequality, as well as what he sees as flaws in the campaign finance system, calling it a “real disgrace.” He is a self-described democratic socialist, meaning he advocates for a democratic political system along with a socialist economic system. (*) Martin O’Malley: Martin O’Malley served as the 61st Governor of Maryland from 2007 to 2015. There has been specu- lation for years that he has had national political ambitions and has expressed an interest in a presidential run in 2016 on multiple occasions. He supports federal abortion funding, proportionality in marijuana arrests and he is for the Affordable Care Act. (?) Jim Webb: In November, this former United States Senator became the first candidate in either party to announce a pres- idential exploratory committee. He has also served as the Secretary of the Navy, Assistant Secretary of Defense, a congres- sional staffer and a Marine Corps officer. (?) Lincoln Chafee: Lincoln Chafee is an American politician who served as the 74th Governor of Rhode Island from January 2011 to January 2015. Prior to his election as governor, Chafee served in the United States Senate as a Republican from 1999 until 2007. That same year, he left the Republican Party and became an independent. He joined the Democratic Party in 2013. (?) *= Declared ? = Potential Candidate Features 2 Westhill High School The Republicans Ted Cruz: Ted Crux initially an- nounced in March that he was run- ning and he is the first Republican candidate to officially declare himself in the race for the presiden- Marco Rubio: This Republican senator cy. Cruz is a Texas senator who is seen as a truth-telling hero to from Florida announced his candidacy for presi- many conservatives and evangelical Americans. In his speech to dent on April 13. Rubio holds conservative views announce his run, he called to repeal the Affordable Care Act, on fiscal issues (meaning that he wants to limit fed- abolish the Internal Revenue Service and to “defend the sanctity eral spending) and social issues (he is opposed to of human life and uphold the sacrament of marriage.” His party is same-sex marriage and he is strongly against Roe worried that his values are too directed towards the ultra-conserva- v. Wade) and has been called the “crown prince” tive right-wingers, with no appeal to more moderate Republicans. of the Tea Party movement. He does not think hu- His early entrance into the race was meant to build a coalition of man activity causes climate change, and that poli- Tea Party conservatives and evangelical Christians in order to dif- cies addressing climate change would “destroy” the ferentiate himself from other Republican contenders. economy. Rand Paul: Rand Paul currently serves in the United States Senate as member of the Republican Party. Paul, a supporter of the Tea Party movement, is a vocal critic of the Federal Reserve System (which is the American banking system). He also opposes NSA mass surveillance of Americans and describes himself as “100% pro-life”, believing that person-hood begins at fertilization. On the issue of same-sex marriage, Paul says that it “offends myself and a lot of people” and that it is a “moral crisis.” He officially announced his presidential candidacy on April 7, 2015, and he has already raised substantial funds for his campaign. Others to watch: Carly Fiorina: A former business executive of Hewlett-Packard, a multinational technology corporation. (*) Ben Carson: American author and former neurosurgeon who was the first surgeon to successfully separate conjoined twins at the head. (*) Mike Huckabee: Until January 3, 2015, Huckabee hosted the Fox News Channel talk show Huckabee, before ending the show in order to investigate the possibility of a 2016 presidential candidacy. (*) Jeb Bush: In December of 2014, Jeb Bush announced that he was actively exploring a presidential run, although he has not yet announced an official campaign. He is the second son of former President George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush, and he served as the Governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. (?) Scott Walker: Walker is the governor of Wisconsin and is the first candidate to open a campaign office in Iowa. (?) Chris Christie: Christie has been the governor of New Jersey since 2010. He was a potential candidate in the 2012 presi- dential election, although he did not run. Readers may know him from the Fort Lee lane closure scandal. (?) Rick Santorum: Runner up to Mitt Romney in the 2012 Republican presidential primary, Santorum is set to run for pres- ident for a second time in the 2016 presidential election. (?) Bobby Jindal: Current Governor of Louisiana who became the first Indian American governor in the U.S. in 2007. (?) *= Declared ? = Potential Candidate 2 3 Spring 2015 GLASS CORRIDORS Who are your Elected Officials? By Ciara Hoyne Congressman: John Katko of the 114th U.S. Congress on January 6th,, 2015. Katko will be in of- Congressman John Katko was sworn into office as a memberth district of New York State. The 24th district includes parts of Oswego countryfice for the and next all oftwo Cayuga, years, Wayne,serving andas the Onondaga representative counties. for Priorthe 24 to his inauguration, Katko was chosen to serve as the chairman of the Subcommittee on Transportation, which is under the House Com- mittee on Homeland Security. Katko is also on the Main House Com- mittee of Transportation and Infrastructure. So what does this mean for people living in the 24th Congres- sional District? As a member of both committees, Katko will be work- ing to ensure that not only transportation and security is safe across the U.S., but also here in Central New York. Katko’s participation on both committees corresponds with many local areas, including the NY-Canada border, the 9 Mile Pt. Nuclear generating station, the R. E. Ginna Nuclear Power plant, the Hancock Field Air Na- tional Guard Base, the Port of Oswego, Hancock Inter- national Airport and possible reconstruction of I-81. New York State Senators: Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer Our senators work to earn federal funding to work on projects in New York State. Senators are up for re-election ev- ery six years. Schumer is up for reelection in 2016 and Gil- ibrand is up for reelection in 2018. There is no limit to the number terms a senator can serve. News 4 Westhill High School Onondaga County Executive: Joanie Mahoney The County Executive is in charge of total operations for all departments under the county. Joanie Mahoney was elected in 2007 - utive. and was first woman elected as County Exec City of Syracuse Mayor: Stephanie Miner and transportationThe mayor is departments.the official head Mayor of the Miner city, alsooverseeing serves theas thepolice, representative fire, education, for Syracusehousing before the New York Sate legislature and is in charge of declaring local emergencies. Mayor Syracuse and was reelected to a second term in Stephanie Miner is the first female mayor of 2013. Due to a two-term limit, this will be Mayor Miner’s last term in office. Town of Geddes Supervisor: Manny Falcone Town of Onondaga Supervisor: Thomas Andino The duties of Town Supervisor consist of au- - diting accounts, preparing the budget, and working Geddeswith the Supervisor town board Manny or council Falcone on financialis also an deci hon- Photos Courtesy sions concerning public works, roads, etc.